


The Road Not Taken

by tangiblewhimsy



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-24
Updated: 2012-07-24
Packaged: 2017-11-10 16:12:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/468207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tangiblewhimsy/pseuds/tangiblewhimsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nino has a series of dreams that all seem to be indicating something about Sho.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road Not Taken

**Author's Note:**

> For the 2010 June fanfiction contest at the [shoneenclub](http://shoneenclub.livejournal.com).

Nino squinted as bright rays of early morning sun finally began to peek through the trees. Half of them were dead already, the summer drought taking much of the countryside into early graves. There were still enough evergreens alive to allow intermittent shade, although the speed at which the Ford zoomed down the abandoned roads made the brief changes in light more of a headache than a relief.

Beside him Sho began to stir. Glancing over, Nino could see where road dust and sweat caked to his collar at the places Sho's hair feathered away from his neck. It had likely once been a nice silk shirt, but it was ruined now. Too many days without a change, without a wash. Sho grumbled as he lumbered his way out of sleep, wincing as a sunbeam caught him in the eyes first thing.

“Where are we?” he coughed, clearing his voice of the low, harsh growl that came from deep sleep.

“About an hour and a half outside of Glenmont,” Nino said, turning his attention back to the road and guiding the car smoothly around another bend.

Sho was sitting up straighter, doing the best he could in their confined space to stretch. “An' where's that?”

“About two hours south of Cleveland,” Nino said indifferently. Sho always asked the same questions in the morning. It was both a comfort and an annoyance.

The comfort came from the fact that Sho always wanted to keep updated, always wanted to be involved in this trip of theirs. He actively participated, and it made Nino feel like he at least wanted to be there, rather than being dragged along.

There were only so many times Nino could stomach being asked the same thing, though. This morning, however, he was fine. They'd had a hard time of it of late.

Sho twisted about in his seat, glancing out the large rear window, as if the stretch of road would give way and allow him to see all of the way back to the point he'd fallen asleep.

“Weren't we still in Pennsylvania last night?” he asked, turning back around and giving Nino The Look. The one that said everything Sho wasn't putting into words. 

_Did you just drive all night? Aren't you tired? Why didn't you stop and ask me to drive? Nino..._

Nino pursed his lips against a biting response to the unvoiced questions. Rather, he concentrated on the one that Sho had actually asked. “We were. And now we're in Ohio.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Nino could see Sho watching him. Another ray of sun broke through the trees and illuminated the concerned apprehension that shone from Sho's warm brown eyes.

Nino shifted in his seat, resting his head on his knuckles as he leaned an elbow on the windowsill. Not this morning, he didn't want to get into it right now.

“We need gas soon. We can probably find something for breakfast then,” he changed the subject deftly.

The distraction seemed to take as Sho glanced at the backseat curiously. “What happened to the sandwiches?”

“We finished them on our way out of Patton Township, remember?”

Sho was frowning at the back seat, trying very hard to do just that.

“Yeah,” he said, though he sound unconvinced. “Yeah, all right.”

 

Rain whispered against the windows, cascading over the roof and hood of the car. Sho tilted his head to one side as he followed the flow of water across his window, curious about how fast they were going to make it almost horizontal. Likely not the safest speed to take in the rain. Even with his misgivings, however, Sho had never hesitated to get in the car with Nino behind the wheel.

Nino leaned forward over the steering column, trying to get a view of the sky through the rain. He frowned as everything remained just as black and blurry as the road ahead. With an unconscious noise of annoyance, Nino leaned back against his seat.

“Still awake?” he asked, reaching over and nudging Sho's elbow playfully.

Sho's head rolled from one shoulder to the other and even in the muted lack of light of the nighttime storm Nino could see the way he flashed a dopey smile. (An expression that made the corner of Nino's lips curl to mimic.)

“Yeah,” he said, shifting on the bench seat to lean his back against the door and face Nino. “You?” Sho returned Nino's nudge carefully, not wanting to distract the driver too much.

“I'm alright,” Nino reassured him, a soft laugh relaxing his tensed shoulders. “Be nice if the rain stopped, though.”

Sho glanced out the windshield, inspecting the weather as if he hadn't just been contemplating it moments before. With a shrug of shoulders, exaggerated by the way the deep shadows that were his suspenders tugged at his chest, Sho made a noncommittal noise.

“Can't rain all the time,” he recited, though a glance provided Nino the chance to see the way shadows shifted in Sho's face. He looked dissatisfied with the canned-wisdom of his answer.

Chuckling at his knuckles, Nino shook his head. “Thank you, oh Mister Wise. Nevermore will I believe that the rain is ever-flowing.”

Sho's head tipped back against his window as he laughed loudly and turned around to face forward again. Nino adjusted his grip on the wheel and relaxed further into his seat, glad to have Sho with him through the storm.

 

Granville, Ohio was just beginning to wake up when their red 1929 Ford, Model A pulled into town. It was so covered in dust and grime that it appeared more a beaten up brown than the rich, dark red it had rolled off the line with. But Nino didn't care. She didn't look all that great on the outside, but she worked just fine and kept him going where he needed to be.

The streets of the quiet village were clean, many signs and fences freshly whitewashed with careful lettering on windows and doors. As their car traveled slowly down the streets in search of a filling station it attracted glances from passersby. Nino did his best to smile pleasantly, even if Sho's face had drained of color and his own smile seemed pinched and nervous.

“Think you can handle finding a diner?” he asked as they pulled in and parked at a pump, the only filling station in the town almost clear on the other side of it.

“Yeah. There was one on the boulevard before we turned the corner a ways back,” Sho said as he hopped out of the car. He paused to give himself time to stretch, a little unsteady after so much time in a moving vehicle and off his feet.

Nino watched as Sho's suspenders made his already rumpled shirt bunch around his sloped shoulders, amused by the way they must have pulled and made the stretching rather useless in the long run. Nino didn't prescribe to the suspender method himself, his narrow shoulders typically inviting the damn things to slip off and hang about his waist anyway. Even on the road however, days without bathing or changing clothes, Sho tried to cling to some form of propriety.

Waving him off, Nino turned to the matter of the pump. There was always an issue with knowing whether or not an attendant would come out to help nowadays, especially in the smaller towns. As Nino was making his selections and making sure the pumps were actually in working order (a few, out of the way filling stations had actually been abandoned when he'd pulled in before, meaning no gas), a tall man wearing grease-stained green coveralls came out of the garage adjacent to the miniature store the pumps were located outside of.

“Good morning!” he man said, smiling in a flash of white teeth and waving a hand as he pulled it out of a thick pair of gloves.

Nino glanced over his shoulder as he inserted the nozzle into his tank and began to pump. Ducking his head in a nod he returned the greeting. “G'mornin'.”

“Looks like you do a lot of driving,” the coverall-clad man said, awe in his voice as he took in the sight of Nino's car. His gaze eventually passed over the dirty vehicle and fixed on Nino.

There was a familiarity there that was friendly, though Nino couldn't really place it. It was unsettling to feel familiar with a person whose name you didn't even know (just because the name tag on his outfit was stitched to say “Masaki” did not mean that was his real name). It was even more confusing when the look he was being fixed with seemed full of meaning that Nino wasn't getting.

“Yeah,” he said indifferently, watching the meter closely. He could only afford so much gas, no matter how far they drove.

“You should take better care of her,” the mechanic said, his eyes continuing to follow Nino as he busied himself around the pump. “The dust will start to eat away the paint soon.”

“Yeah, well, appearances aren't everything,” Nino shrugged, annoyed by the knowing stare he was being given. The pump dinged and he unhooked the nozzle from his car.

“The inside can be really well taken care of, but how is anyone supposed to know if you don't take care of the outside too?”

Nino turned to stare at the mechanic, who was still smiling at him with infuriating understanding. He had the distinct impression they were no longer talking about his car, but the cryptic bullshit caused his annoyance to flare. Slamming his gas cover shut, Nino's fingers smeared through the dirt and left trails of paint to shine through as he stalked off to find Sho and the diner.

 

They had been traveling south for so long that Nino felt that maybe he was just imagining it. The thick groves of trees and fragrant orchards had given way to flat lands with seas of tall grass that rolled in the wind.

Sho was leaning out the passenger window, chin resting on his hand as he watched the ocean of wheat flow past in the night. The moon was full and bright, hanging low in the sky as it made its way into the heavens. The cool summer air whispered of oncoming autumn, moisture joining the chill if they stayed in one place too long.

Silently, Nino pulled off the main road and on to the dirt path he'd spotted. He had no idea where it lead or whether or not it might take them further into nowhere, but he was getting tired of the road and just the road. Beside him, Sho sat up straighter and glanced at him curiously.

The dirt path turned out to be a road to absolutely nowhere. It trailed out into the grass until it stopped far enough away from the road that their car likely wouldn't be seen. Cutting the engine, Nino relished the way silence hung about the car, vibrating through the air in place of the hum of the engine. He was thankful that it hadn't led to a house or a campsite; somewhere that people were bound to be. He didn't feel like sharing the world with anyone right now. At least anyone that wasn't Sho.

Sho looked as though he wanted to ask something, though he wisely refrained as Nino swung his door open and dropped out of the car. With some shimmying and effort, he managed to pull himself up on to the roof, relaxing back and allowing his legs to dangle off of the rear of the vehicle. With some clambering and an utter lack of grace, Sho soon followed, grunting as he pulled himself heavily up on to the metal plane.

“Wow,” Sho breathed softly after a long silence.

Nino wasn't a hack when it came to putting his thoughts into words, but in this instance he couldn't have said it better himself. The sky was so open, so rich with color and light that it felt like it was reaching out to them in the middle of nowhere. Soft, deep purple shadows were static to their eyes, but as the stars glittered in the sky Nino felt the universe in motion. Nothing could remain stationary, it all kept moving.

 

They'd pulled into Almond, North Carolina the night before. Nino hadn't wanted to stop after the fiasco of being stuck in Waynesville for nearly a week waiting for the rains to stop. He wouldn't have even stayed that long if Sho hadn't convinced him that their tires were too bald to handle the now swamp-like dirt roads. Between waiting out the rains in a leaky shack of a room and finding the money to buy new tires, Nino had finally relented.

After surviving off of damp sandwiches for that week, however, Sho had also demanded a hot breakfast. Nino had said if he could find a diner they would stop. Unfortunately, Almond had been one of the few townships that his companion had been awake for while they drove through it.

Nino had actually needed to find a place to park, as the town was so small that the one restaurant within city limits only had enough spots for local regulars. He had dropped Sho off to get them a place to sit before leaving, though he hadn't expected the scene that greeted him when he had returned on foot.

At the counter a number of early breakfast patrons sat, each with their coffees and their papers, quietly starting their mornings. Then there was Sho, shoulders shaking and head bowed to the counter, making a noise not dissimilar to that of a bubbling kettle. Behind the counter was a short man with a round face, his long nose lifted as his features crinkled with a smile.

“Oh-chan?” Nino stared stupidly, still holding the door open behind him.

The diner owner looked up and gave a short wave, a laughing grin still plastered across his face.

“Morning!”

Sho twisted around on his stool, laughter finally abating, and mimicked Ohno in giving Nino a wave over his shoulder. His eyes were still squinted with mirth and he was smiling wide as he said, “Morning!”

Nino's mind raced, trying to fit all of the pieces in this picture together in some way that made sense. Blinking repeatedly, he looked behind him before stepping out of the door and letting it shut behind him. Approaching the counter and trying to show as little hesitation as possible, Nino climbed on to a stool beside Sho gingerly.

“What are you doing here?” he asked the man behind the counter as Ohno had turned to busy himself with getting another mug and a pot of coffee. The man was still smiling when he came back to pour Nino a cup.

“I work here,” Ohno stated the obvious, pointing to his plastic name tag proudly.

Nodding his thanks for the coffee, Nino curled his hands around the china to warm them before drinking. He needed the grounding bite of the heat right now. Especially with the way Sho was beginning to look between him and Ohno, making the back of Nino's neck hot.

“You two know each other?” Sho asked curiously, pointing from one man to the other.

Ohno's elaboration was nothing more than a confirming nod and a smile, leaving Nino to explain. A trait that he was so thankful for at the moment.

“We're... we go back a ways,” he said, trying not to answer too quickly. He could see the amused twinkle in Ohno's eye and resisted the urge to vent his annoyance by reaching out to cuff the man's shoulder.

Thankfully, Sho could be thick as country gravy at times. He didn't pick up on Nino's nervousness, or if he did he chose to ignore it completely in favor of rejoicing in the reunion of friends.

“That's incredible! It's amazing who you can meet when you're on the road sometimes. Once, when we were back in Maine, we stopped at this grocery mart—well, really it was more of a general store, anyway—”

As Sho went in detail about the eccentric pair of not-brothers who shared the same last name and an apartment but ran the town post office, sheriff's station and general store between the two of them, Nino watched Ohno carefully. The man leaned on the counter lazily, shoulders haunched as he listened to Sho's story. His expression drifted from amused to wistful and back again a number of times, indicating the parts that he was listening to and processing, and the ones that Ohno's mind had checked out for completely.

At the counter, Nino's posture mimicked Ohno's as he curled over his coffee protectively. Sipping at the hot beverage, he tried his best to relax and let go. Ohno had always known when he didn't want something said or done. Nino had always been able to trust him in that way.

Sucking in a deep breath, Sho paused before exhaling slowly, realizing that was the end of his story. Looking between Nino and Ohno, Sho gave a little pout as neither had quite the engaged reaction he was hoping for.

“Well, I mean, the point was that you find some curious people across...the world,” shoulders sagging, Sho dipped his head to take a sip of his coffee and silence himself. Nino couldn't help chuckling over the rim of his own mug, head bowing almost to the counter. Reaching out, he gave Sho a consoling pat on the shoulder before letting his hand drop back down to his own lap.

Ohno was standing up straighter now, head cocked to one side. A soft, knowing smile was fixed on Nino as he watched the two men together. The diner worker seemed happy for his old friend, though it caused Nino's stomach to flutter in the oddest of ways.

“Hey, Nino,” he said, failing to hide the amused half-smirk, “Where're you going?”

“Uh,” he cleared his throat, swinging his legs fully under the counter, “We did actually come here for breakfast.”

Ohno nodded his understanding before standing up straighter and looking about him. It was as if he just remembered that he was actually working and that Nino meant for _him_ to get their food. Round face splitting into a grin, Ohno looked from Sho to Nino and nodded before disappearing into the back with a wave.

“Ah—wait! Wait! Where is he going?” Sho asked as he looked with concern from his menu to Nino to the door Ohno left through and back again. “We didn't even order.”

“Oh-chan can forget these types of things,” Nino said fondly as he took another drink of coffee, finally beginning to relax. “Don't worry. He always brings out the best.”

 

“You sure you don't want a break? I can drive for a while.”

“I would, but it would involve letting you drive my car.”

“Ah! You wound me, Ninomiya,” Sho scoffed dramatically, a hand going to his heart for emphasis. “Really, though, it has to be past midnight already and we didn't stop yesterday. Let me drive for a little while.”

Nino's grip tightened on the wheel instinctively, the thought of giving up his seat making the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He really did not enjoy the idea of relinquishing control. He trusted Sho with everything else in his life, practically, but the mere thought of letting go of the wheel made his palms sweat and heart thud painfully against his ribs.

“It's fine, I got it,” Nino tried to sound reassuring enough that Sho would let it go.

Rather than laugh it off or move on to the next subject, however, Sho watched him. Nino zeroed his focus on the road, refusing to glance over. He knew that if he did, what he would see would be Sho staring at him, quiet and intent. Maybe he'd be annoyed, and then Nino would likely lash out at him. Or maybe he would be miffed that Nino didn't trust him with the car. What Nino really didn't think he could handle was if he somehow understood and was letting Nino have his way because of that.

“You know,” Sho spoke slowly and Nino could hear how he was picking his words carefully in his head as he put his sentences together, “I haven't driven yet. Even once.”

Nino knew this to be true, but he did nothing to respond, lips thinning to a resolute line.

“Most of the time I don't care,” he continued to explain. Nino heard him shift on the seat and felt rather than saw how Sho was now reclining against the door again. “I like where you take us. I like that I get to come along.” _When others get left behind._ “But sometimes... It would be nice if sometimes I got to pick which direction we're going. Or at least be involved in the decision.”

As he listened Nino could feel the little black animal in his gut stirring up trouble. It twisted up his insides and pushed his stomach around in his body, clawing its way up his ribs. Amazing how people always talked about how guilt could eat away at a person, but it was never mentioned how it liked to play with its food.

Sho didn't push the matter further than that, propping an elbow on his knee and his face in his hand before curling up to fall asleep.

 

The county lockup was old. Not just 'could use new paint but is otherwise serviceable' old. It was so old it felt more like the deathtrap of a dungeon than a simple jail cell.

Nino looked over the water damaged walls, the rust stains seeping down from the bars at the window. The entire place smelled sour, a combination of old urine and musty mattresses. Nino was afraid to touch anything for fear of soaking up that scent and being stuck with it for the rest of his life.

The bars behind him screeched shut and the clank of the lock echoed so loudly it pulled Nino out of his stupor of revulsion enough to turn around, watching as the uniformed deputy wandered off. Turning about, Nino gripped the old bars until the grime on them scraped at his palms. It wasn't doing any good to try and suck fresh air out of the hallway, it seemed. The entire place was contaminated.

“Oh,” Nino spun around, noticing for the first time a man seated on the floor, back against one of the bed frames. His sharp features told Nino he was annoyed before the man chose to elaborate. “I thought they were bringing lunch.”

“I'm from catering,” Nino said dryly, pressing up closer to the bars again to try and see what he could of the front office. “I'm here for your order for the office party.”

Inky hair fell into the sitting man's eyes as his head fell forward and he laughed. Standing up, he rubbed his hands on his thighs in some semblance of trying to clean them.

“Matsumoto,” he offered, flashing a disarmingly clean set of teeth. Nino shook his hand with a nod, offering his name in return. “You look like you haven't showered longer than me.”

Glancing down at himself, Nino had to admit he was likely pretty ripe. He and Sho had stopped at a lake aways back, but—

Nino felt the bars tear at his palms as his grip tightened.

Matsumoto watched curiously, giving an indifferent shrug. “So why're you here?”

“I told you,” Nino tried deflecting, “I'm with catering.”

With a derisive chuckle, Matsumoto shook his head. “Yeah, all right.”

Nose wrinkling from annoyance now and not merely disgust, Nino resolved to ignore this Matsumoto for as long as he had to be here. Why was everything about South Carolina insufferable?

The hours spent in silence were long, however. Much longer than Nino had thought they'd be. He had spent forever and a day without saying a word to Sho while they were on the road and he'd never felt like this. The worst part was that Matsumoto seemed completely immune to the deafening quiet between them, perfectly content to go back to his seat and just wait.

After the impatient itching in his skin had time to build, Nino broke.

“They impounded my car.”

Glancing up, Matsumoto fixed Nino with a keen eye. He took in the haggard look of the man at the door, the puffy eyes and the way his clothing wrinkled and faded in certain spots. The sag in his shoulders and the way his head drooped toward his hands. Nino had the look about him of a man lost.

“Going somewhere important?” asked Matsumoto, not even trying to play at diplomatic.

Nino laughed into his wrist softly, bitterly. Straightening up, he stood back from the barred door, but continued to look out at the hall. “Something like that.”

To his irritation, Nino heard Matsumoto chuckle to himself. Shooting the degenerate a warning glare, Nino turned to feign investigation of the bars at the window. Unfortunately whatever passed for a toilet was sitting in an oozing pile of itself in the back corner, which made the facade near impossible to maintain.

“Well,” said Matsumoto, grunting as he hauled himself to his feet, “You're either going somewhere or you're not. And it's either important to you or it isn't.”

“I'm sure the simplicity of your genius is exactly what won you such charming accommodations in Laurens,” Nino sniffed, drifting back toward the door and barely breathable air.

Laughing mirthlessly, Matsumoto shook his head. “I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time thinking about things. I find the more I think on something, the more complicated it gets.”

“Gee,” Nino interrupted sarcastically, leaning against the wall opposite Matsumoto, who had moved to the front of the door.

“But the thing is: I end up spending so much time thinking that I forget the initial problem,” Matsumoto went on, kicking lightly at each bar in the door in succession. “When you go back over something, you can usually see that there's only one of two ways to proceed.” One of the bars cried rather than thudded as the tip of his boot caught the old metal and Matsumoto smiled.

Looking up, Matsumoto surprised Nino by dropping his smugness. He looked very serious, almost imploring as he repeated:

“You're either going somewhere or you're not. It's either important to you or it isn't. In the end the decision gets made, whether or not you're the one that makes it.”

Nino chewed at the inside of his mouth, anger simmering at being lectured by such a person. His scathing retort died on his tongue, however, when Matsumoto reached for the bars and dragged the cell door wide open.

He looked back at Nino once more before giving him a salute and walking out.

 

Nino's fingers curled against the slick paint on the passenger side. He'd been pacing uselessly for a few minutes before deciding it was better to just sit still, so he leaned against the car. It was hard for him not to do anything, though.

The blown tire has scared him more than he'd thought one would. Nino'd reacted well enough not to kill himself or Sho, but he still felt he could have done it better. There were black streaks on the road swerving across lines before leading back to where they'd managed to pull over.

“Is it going to take much longer?” Nino asked, sounding more annoyed to cover the fact he was still shaken up. It wasn't entirely fair to get mad at Sho, but he _had_ been the one driving. If Nino took better care of the car, the tires wouldn't have been so bald that they'd burst on a curb going the speed limit. Really, it was his fault that they'd both nearly died.

Sho sighed, his shoulders tensing. Nino could see the shadows on the man's face work as he clenched his jaw against something angry. Rather than speaking up at first, Sho simply continued to work on changing the tire.

“I don't know,” he admitted, keeping his voice mostly even. “Go ahead and wait in the car if you're cold, though.”

Nino gave a snort and pushed off the car. “And leave you to crush your hand while changing a tire?” Nino's own hands clenched around his arms as he crossed them on his chest. The only reason he wasn't changing the tire himself was because they were too weak to loosen the lug nuts. After he'd failed several times to even wiggle one nut, Sho had taken over.

“I'm sorry!” Sho said, almost yelling as he stood up. The nighttime clouds shifted enough to provide light for Nino to see the anger and frustration in Sho's face and he tried to stand his ground despite the shock.

“I'm sorry I blew the tire! I'm sorry you had to go through that! I'm sorry _I made a mistake!_ I just wanted... Jesus, Nino... I just...” Sho's arms were shaking and Nino watched as emotions fought for control of the man's features. Anger, guilt, embarrassment, forgiveness, confusion; all trying to lay claim as what Sho was feeling the most.

Nino's hands dropped to his sides, though he resisted the urge to reach out and touch the man in a reassuring way. Sho wasn't the one that had to be sorry between the two of them, really. Nino had played his hand so close to home, kept control of the situation for so long. He hadn't meant to put on so much pressure, to make Sho feel like he didn't trust him just because he'd gotten scared.

Sho's hand tensed around the arm of the lug wrench he had in hand. Chewing at the inside of his cheek, he dropped the wrench on the ground and breathed deeply.

“I'll fix it, okay? Just... I'll fix it,” he promised stooping back down and picking up the wrench again.

Silently, Nino stooped down beside his friend and long-time companion. He handed him parts when they were needed and shifted to stay out of what little light they had. The tire got changed as a matter of course and Sho had just closed the trunk on their tools as he was heading back to passenger side.

Nino still wasn't sure what to say, wasn't sure he had a right to say anything again yet. Sho paused as he rounded the back of the car, however, turning to look back over his shoulder.

The autumn evening was growing colder, they really shouldn't stay outside much longer. But Sho seemed determined to ask. Nino could hear it in his voice this time, though. This was different. Sho wasn't going to ask again. Unlike times before, he was hoping against hope he'd get a real answer.

“Hey, Nino... Where are we going?”

 

The hotel alarms were always more painful to wake up to than merely annoying, which was why Nino avoided using them whenever possible. Whenever he shared a room with Sho while they were on tour this task became infinitely easier. He felt the hand at his shoulder, dragging him out of sleep but a deep voice being gentle about it.

“Hey, Nino,” Sho wasn't quite whispering, but he kept his voice low. “It's time to get up. C'mon, or I'll take the first shower and use all the hot water.”

Nino gave a sleepy laugh, twisting around in the sheets. He wasn't quite awake yet, but that was okay. Sho only woke him up like this when they were waking up earlier than they needed to. It was just a habit that had formed to extend their mornings after.

Sho grinned down at him, dropping a kiss on his bare shoulder and sitting up. He stretched and glanced at the clock in a failed attempt at being stealthy.

With his head pillowed on his arm, Nino blinked his way into consciousness, thinking about things. He'd been dreaming, but he couldn't entirely remember what it had been about. He seemed to think Sho was involved, but that may have just been because Sho had woken him up.

They'd never talked about what they were before. It had started quite literally on a dare. Someone had told a drunk Sho he didn't have the security in his manhood to kiss another guy and that someone had woken up the next morning in Sho's bed having done a lot more than just kissed.

Rather than play it off as some drunken accident, though, they'd let it go. They were good, close friends who cared about each other deeply. Why not have some fun, too?

As the years had gone on, however, Nino wasn't sure it was fair to just keep it fun. They were getting older, they were moving on. Their families already expected them to be married, their friends were already working on families of their own. If they weren't doing anything, it shouldn't have been such a unspeakable topic to discuss what would happen if either of them met a girl.

“Hey,” Sho spoke up, a touch of concern in his voice as he snuggled back down into the bed. He rested a hand on Nino's hip and massaged it lightly, knowing that sometimes he was sore and in a sour mood because of it. “Everything okay?”

Nino took a shaky breath in at the massaging, adjusting his position so it helped more than hurt. He'd put himself in a weird funk just thinking about things. Which was probably why they didn't discuss it.

“Yeah,” he nodded, eyes fluttering as Sho's thumb hit a tense spot. “I was just thinking...”

“About what?” Sho asked curiously. He sounded amused that Nino would be thinking so early in the morning.

Nino let his eyes shut and concentrated on his hip. “Mmn...About...the fact that I love you.”

Sho's hand didn't stop immediately, but it did pause. Nino kept his eyes shut and braced himself against what was coming next. He knew there was a reason they'd never touched the topic, but they were getting too old to play pretend anymore.

“Really?” Sho asked, and the breathless quality of his voice made Nino frown and open his eyes curiously. 

He'd been expecting shock, for certain, maybe a polite acknowledgement. In the worst case scenarios he'd always thought incredulity would factor in. Hope certainly wasn't on the list of things he'd been prepared for.

Sho was gazing at him very seriously, his eyes dark in the way they usually only were when they were having sex. That was the only time they really allowed themselves to be unguarded, though there were still things they'd held back.

Nino propped himself up on an elbow, searching Sho's face carefully. The man was a terrible liar on the best of days, but they'd had years of practice with this particular lie.

Leaning forward slowly, Nino kept his eyes open as he gave Sho a soft, sweet new beginning's kiss.


End file.
